An investigation of relationship between number sense and spatial visualization of 8th grade students

The purpose of this study is to research correlation between 8th grader students‟ spatial skills and their gender and mathematics achievement, investigate correlation between spatial skills and their numeral perception achievement, investigate correlation between numeral perception achievement and their gender and mathematics achievement This study was conducted in Karabağlar, İzmir by one hundred twenty 8th grader students of Öğretmenler Şeker Mevhibe Secondary School. This research is a descriptive study. Two measuring instruments were used to collect data: MGMP spatial skills and numeral perception achievement tests. In order to analyse the obtained data, ki-Kare analysis, Pearson product moment correlation and regression analysis were used. The results indicated that spatial skills and number sense of 8th grade students were medium level and coherent correlation between spatial skill and numeral perception achievement and sex couldn‟t be found. Generally, there was a significant positive correlation between spatial skill and numeral perception achievement, mathematics achievement; and there was a significant positive relationship between spatial skills and numeral perception achievement. Therewithal, indication was discovered that two components of numeral perception achievement effect their performance in numeral perception achievement tests. Key Words: Spatial Thinking, Spatial Skill, Spatial Visualization, Spatial Relations, number sense, components of number sense